Traffic Officer at Zvartnots Provided Drivers with Inflated Information Regarding Fines

The Office of the General Prosecutor of Armenia reports that during the investigation of a criminal case examined by the RA Special Investigation Service and then by the RA Anti-Corruption Committee, it was revealed that an inspector of the RA Police's Traffic Police service committed several similar criminal offenses on January 26, 2021, while on duty at the Zvartnots International Airport.

Specifically, during his service in that area, he identified various violations of traffic rules by drivers of several vehicles. According to the prosecutor's office, the inspector provided drivers with inflated information about the amount of fines for the administrative violations committed and then reached an agreement to register a different administrative violation that stipulated a lower amount of the fine, provided they paid the fine in cash.

As a result, the inspector indicated a certain amount in the incomplete forms of the violation report and decision, after which, under the fictitious pretext of collecting the fine on the spot, he received amounts ranging from 5,000 to 20,000 AMD from the drivers to create the illusion of legally registering the fact of violating traffic rules.

The inspector has fully admitted his guilt in the charges brought against him, provided self-incriminating testimony, and has compensated for the damage. Additionally, it was established during the preliminary investigation that the reports concerning the administrative violations recorded by the inspector during 2020-2021 were not handed over to the relevant employee for a long time.

The investigation revealed that the procedures for proper registration of reports on administrative violations and payment receipts for administrative fines in the relevant departments of the RA Police's Traffic Police service were not properly organized. Furthermore, there is a lack of sufficient mechanisms for supervision over them.

The General Prosecutor of Armenia, Artur Davtyan, has sent a letter to the Chief of Police, Vahe Ghazaryan, aimed at developing mechanisms for ensuring the proper implementation of those processes and appropriate supervision over them, as well as conducting studies to clarify the established violations and their causes in the criminal case and addressing the disciplinary accountability of officials responsible for the violations.